Baby chair



I M 3, 1934. w, HA L 1,965,236

BABY CHAIR Fiied May 20, 1932 INVENTOR WILLIAMBY HALL 7 MORIJEY Patented July 3, 1934 BABY . CHAIR.

William H211; New Y Q Ik, NQY;

ApplicationMay 20,1932, Serial No. 612,421

2 Claims.

This invention relates-"to methods *and'means for retaining-in safety, andexercising, feeding,

and'amusing,-a humanbaby, and more especially v to a newandpractical form of baby chair, partly B -to replace the'-present-day type of upsettable high chair.

An object of the invention is to provide, in a relatively inexpensive article, a stable form of chair for an infant, permitting it to be retained in V ill-*position, from which it cannot crawl away into mischief, relatively close to the floor on which the article rests, said article having a base wide enough to prevent it being accidentally capsized.

Another object is to provide such a device or lfi article with a resilient seat having a variable height suspending structure which can be adjusted to accommodate babies of different weights, or the same baby as it grows to different weights.

* A further object is to provide an inexpensive seat structure in such an article, into which the child may be easily placed, but from which it cannot by itself escape, thus freeing those in charge from any worry if the child is left alone.

A further object is to provide in such an article means for the child to amuse and content itself, and at the same time to exercise and strengthen its arm and leg muscles.

Finally, an object is to provide such an article with removable means on which the child may be fed, or place its toys.

All these and other objects, as suggested herebelow, are attained by the method and means now to be described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational view, in perspective, of the completely assembled article, with the feeding board removed, ready to receive the child.

Fig. 2 is a detail of the spring and roller construction-which resiliently retains the seat in its uprights.

Fig. 3 is a further detail of the rollers, being a cross-sectional view across the support and roller diameters, in reverse position.

And Fig. 4 is a perspective view, similar to Fig.

1, but showing the child and feeding board in position in the article.

Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views.

The device consists essentially of a relativelywide base member 10, which may be cut in disc form from wood, and having a circular edge or rim 11 of metal, for strength. Rigidly secured to base 10 and rim 11, as by brackets 12, are two spaced upright members 13, 14 extendingly upmade ofwood."

Uprights 13; l4'are'preferab1y pressed metal channels, facing inwardly, as shown, to provide a runner or runners for the seat-holding members and to conceal its mechanism.

The seat consists of an annular-shaped member, possibly of wood, having oppositely-disposed lips or extensions, and numbered here 16, and having four eyelet fasteners 17 projecting from its lower surface, and to which adjustable straps 13, of leather, are slidably attached.

These straps are secured at their lower ends to a shaped wooden seat 19, semi-circular in outline in back, and with arc-shaped cut-outs in front, to permit the childs legs to straddle the pointedshaped seat structure thus formed, the straps being positioned front and back, and one on each side.

Vertically secured beneath the outer ends of upper seat member 16 are two sliding brackets 20, 21 suitably dimensioned so that their outer vertical edges will frictionlessly slide up and down in channels 13, 14.

Brackets 20, 21 are resiliently supported by downwardly extensible coil springs 22, (one only being shown in the phantom cut-out portion of Fig. 1), these springs being attached to pins 23 which are removably placed in any oppositelypositioned pair of holes 24 in uprights 13, 14. Thus both the height of the seat 19 and its resistance to Weight (by the greater or lesser stretching of the springs) may be quickly altered at will for children of different heights and weights, or for the same child as it grows. The upward movement of the seat is of course limited by the springs 22 when fully compressed. And the downward movement is controlled by the particular tension of the springs used and the location of pins 23 in holes 24, for any particular weight of child.

Channel members 13, 14 may preferably have its end edges flanged inwardly to closely surround the surfaces of brackets 20, 21, so as to leave too small a space for the baby to get its little fingers in when sliding its seat up and down in the uprights. This construction is shown clearly in Fig. 3, which also shows the pair of metal or fibre rollers 25, 26 rotatable about their common pin 27 extending through a hole or holes in each of brackets 20, 21. In fact, the preferred construction is as shown in Fig. l, where each bracket has a pair of such double rollers, spaced wardly to a suitable height, say half again as high; as the child to be accqmmodatedfand terminating in a cross brace or-member l5, showrri'hererasii near the upper and lower ends, respectively, of said brackets, to assure easy sliding movement, Without jamming, of the seat assemblage.

A readily removable eating or toy board 28, Fig. 4, is afiixed outwardly and in the upper plane of member 16, as shown, in any convenient and usual manner.

A rubber or other non-skid mat 29 is affixed to the upper surface of base 10, to keep the childs feet from slipping. Also, there is suspended from suitable hooks in brace 15 a pair of adjustable straps 30, 31 holding at their lower ends hand rings 32, 33, by means of which the child can pull himself and his seat up and (by releasing them) down at will, to amuse and content himself, and also for the vitally important purpose of exercising his arms to strenthen them. The slidable spring-held seat permits a similar action with his or her legs.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not limited thereto. To those skilled in the art, many modifications of the invention will be readily apparent, and it will also be obvious to such skilled persons that part of the method and means may be used without other parts thereof, many such combinations readily suggesting themselves. Therefore, it should be and is to be distinctly understood that for a definition of the limitations of the invention, reference must be had to the appended claims.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which Letters Patent of the United States is desired, is:

1. The combination in a baby chair of a base, a vertical support extending upwardly therefrom, and a seat resiliently held in said support when the child is seated thereon, and adapted to be moved up and down by the baby itself, the seat being attached to vertically-extending brackets on opposite sides thereof, said brackets having frictionless rollers near their upper and lower ends, and the support comprising a pair of spaced members having grooves into which the rollers are adapted to roll.

2. The invention as in claim 1, the height of the resilient seat being adjustable to accommodate children of different weights and leg lengths.

WILLIAM HALL. 

